


on a wednesday in a cafe

by pascalwrites



Category: Carry On - Rainbow Rowell, Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell, Simon Snow series - Gemma T. Leslie
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Cliche, Human Baz, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, im sorry this is Bad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-14
Updated: 2016-01-14
Packaged: 2018-05-13 20:32:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5716138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pascalwrites/pseuds/pascalwrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No magic AU, coffeeshop AU and college AU. Baz studies political science, Simon studies law, Penelope studies medicine and Agatha studies philosophy. Simon and Baz meet in Starbucks, where Simon is a barista, and things go from there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	on a wednesday in a cafe

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't have a beta for this, so all mistakes are mine. English is also not my native language, so I apologise for any weird grammar. Enjoy.

It’s Wednesday morning, eight o’clock when Simon Snow rushes into his local Starbucks, puts on his green apron, and hurriedly attempts to fix his hair before taking up his place behind the counter. Key word here is _attempt_ \- it’s still messy as ever, but hey, at least he tried.

“Good morning to you too,” a voice says behind him, amused. He looks up. Agatha. “What’s got you in such a hurry?”

“Bus was running late. Only got to the train station down the road five minutes ago.” Simon wipes a hand over his forehead in a _phew!_ gesture.

He needs this job. It’s the best in this category that he’s come across, and Penny and him need the money to pay their flat and all the other monthly expenses. Sure, she’s got a job as well, but with two minimum-wage jobs and no time to take up more because of classes they’re barely scraping by.

He wouldn’t have it any other way, though. They’re more comfortable with each other than with anyone else, and neither of them has to share a dorm with some douchebag they’ve never met before.

He turns his attention back to the cafe. Usually this time of the day are all regulars, looking to grab a coffee before work, or the odd group of teenagers with a free period. But further down the line is a man he’s never seen before.

First of all, he’s pale. Unnaturally so, with dark, almost purple circles under his eyes, and a milky white complexion. He’s got black hair down to his shoulders that’s slicked back with gel, except for a strand that falls in his face. Every couple of minutes he tucks it back behind his ear, to no avail, because it just bounces back again.

Behind him, Agatha follows his line of sight and hums disapprovingly. “He looks like he came straight out of a vampire movie. Not really my thing.”

 _If he’d only wear light clothing,_ Simon muses. But mystery guy is wearing a black trench coat over a dark blue jumper, with black jeans and black boots. He does look a bit like Dracula. Simon wonders if he’s aware of this and exploits it, or if he honestly doesn’t see it, but then again, somebody can’t _possibly_ be that oblivious -

He’s standing at the counter.

“Hi, um, I mean, welcome to Starbucks,” stammers Simon, “what can we get you today?”

The other man looks up at him, arms crossed. “Venti caramel macchiato please, with an extra caramel shot, and soy milk instead of regular, and also an extra shot of espresso, and I want it without cream, because that’s disgusting. Did you catch that?” After rattling this off at top speed, he looks at Simon expectantly, and he’s _totally_ doing this on purpose, the _asshole_ , and Simon is just about done.

“Yes, certainly,” he sighs, puts the order in the computer, taps the _Enter-_ button, “what should I put on the cup?”

“Basilton,” mystery guy says, “but since I can’t trust you not to mess that up - please put Baz instead. That’s B-A-Z.”

Simon mentally removes him from the category _asshole_ and puts him in _first-class douchebag_ instead.

“Of course,” he says, trying to remain calm, “that’ll be £5.75,”

Smirking, the guy ( _Baz_ ) hands over the money, and walks down the counter before Simon can put in another word.

 

Baz drops the exact amount of money for his coffee in the employee’s hand and goes to get his coffee, then sits at one of the soft couches in the back of the cafe and pulls out his laptop. Normally he isn’t one for last-minute work, but when this essay still wasn’t finished at three a.m. yesterday he decided to go to sleep. However, after going to bed, he found he _couldn’t_ sleep until five in the morning. Typical.

He’s never seen this particular employee before. He also suspects the employee now thinks he’s a huge asshole, which wasn’t really the intention. He was just overwhelmed, and he hasn’t slept, practically, _and he was really attractive_ , so his brain just short-circuited and went for the safest response.

It doesn’t matter now, though. He’ll probably never see this guy again, or only rarely, and it’s not like he would’ve been _interested_ in Baz, anyway. Maybe he even has a girlfriend. Whatever.

Shrugging it off, he opens his laptop, and starts working.

 

When Simon leaves Starbucks to go to his afternoon class, he can’t help but briefly think about Baz again. He looked their age - maybe he even goes to this school. Simon hopes he doesn’t.

He’s late, so he doesn't look where he’s going when he instinctively opens the door and stumbles in.

“Hi, so sorry, I hope I'm not la-”

He looks around and sees nothing but unfamiliar faces.

“Uh. I’m. Is this even my class?”

“Probably not,” the professor remarks drily, “unless you’ve been skiving off all year and this is the first time we meet.”

He feels his cheeks heating up. “No, of course not, silly me, I’m so sorry for disrupting your class, excuse me, I’ll be going now.”

Once he’s in the right classroom, listening to his professor’s lecture and daydreaming a bit, he thinks he might have seen a certain black-haired, pale man in the crowd. He quickly decides that he must just still have been pissed off at Baz, though, and turns his attention to the front of the room again.

 

Baz is just about to stand up and come to the front with his essay when the door flies open, and lo and behold, the Starbucks employee walks in, profusely apologising about being late. Halfway, though, he stops, and looks around the room, frowning. Baz can practically hear him thinking _Fuck, wrong class. Again._

Not that this has happened before. Baz just feels like this guy is the type to make this kind of mistakes. Often.

“I wonder what class he was supposed to be in,” he muses out loud when the guy, embarrassed, is off to the right class.

“Oh, I know,” the person next to him, a girl with red hair and freckles who he still doesn't know the name of, says. “He's a law major - my roommate sits next to him and she won't shut up about him. His name is Simon.”

_Simon._

He thinks he might just go to Starbucks more often.

**Author's Note:**

> This is supposed to be multi-chaptered, but only if you like it - so tell me what you think.
> 
> Main Tumblr: genderfluidsirius  
> Simon Snow Tumblr: basiltn


End file.
